Fresh meat is the best kind
by Ran McGregor
Summary: The boys in D tent get an new member. Will the guys be able to handle this off the wall inmate?
1. Chapter 1

Chap

Chap. 1

Surprises Around Every Corner

The desert, a barren waste land. Some people say there was once a lake in that part of Texas. Now, it's nothing but sand and holes, as far as the eye can see. The dust kicked up behind the bus as it coasted its way down the vacant, empty dirt road, only to settle back down as if undisturbed. A single passenger handcuffed to the seat in front of them looked out the dirty bus window, a rather scornful expression for one so young. The driver glanced towards them with an uncertain face.

"Hey driver! Can ya turn up the A/C? It's a friggin' oven in here!"

"Shaddap you!" yelled the guard sitting next to the driver. He gripped his shotgun tighter; "We'll be there soon." A few minutes later Camp Green Lake loomed into view.

The guard removed the handcuffs, and escorted the passenger to the main office. Mr. Sir was waiting there to give his little intro. As the guard and prisoner walked through the camp everyone dropped what they were doing to watch the fresh meat. The boys at Camp Green Lake are used to seeing a new face every couple of months. But this was a face they weren't expecting. Some were so dumbfounded; they started to babble amongst themselves.

"Can they do that?" "Is this a trick?" "What the HELL?!" "Yes! I have a reason to live!" The prisoner looked around and chuckled. The guard gave them a shove into Mr. Sir's office. Mr. Sir glanced up, looked down again, then did a quick double take.

"A girl?! What in Sam hill you tryin' to pull?" He yelled banging his fist on the desk. The sunflower seed shells rattled in their jar.

"Nothin'. She's the one. Nothin' I can do 'bout it." The guard replies with a sarcastic tone.

"Look, I ain't runnin' no Girl Scout camp! _She_," pointing to her, "can't stay." The warden nonchalantly walked into the room.

"Excuse me," she glared at Mr. Sir. She turned to the guard. "You can leave now."

"Yes ma'am," the guard turned and left the camp. The warden checked the girl over.

"You musta done somethin' real bad to end up diggin' holes in my camp." She said looking the girl up and down. The girl put a hand on her hip.

"Read my file; see how bad I can be. In the mean time, when do I get one of those _adorable_ orange jumpsuits?" she said with a wicked grin.

The warden sneered at the girl. "Put her in Pendanski's tent. Tell her what she's gotta do," she said flicking through her file. "That's why we didn't know. No photo I.D," she mumbled under her breath. Mr. Sir gave the girl a once over and shook his head.

"God, what is this camp comin' to?" He indicated for her to follow him to the change room. He gave her the jumpsuits, the boots, and showed her everything in the camp. Pendanski popped up to greet his new camper. He started to give his "I respect you" speech, but he saw her first.

"Uh . . ." he looked at Mr. Sir. Mr. Sir gave him a threatening stare. "The tent is this way . . . We are in D tent. D is for diligence!" He started to get his groove back again. "Here are your bunkmates: Rex, Alan, Theodore, Ricky, Jose, Stanley, and Zero."

"Hey, the names are X-ray, Squid, Armpit, Zigzag, Magnet, and Caveman." X-ray looked over at Pendanski. "Whoa . . . Hey Mom, what's this chick doing in our tent?" The rest of D tent just stared at her.

"Well Rex, she's doing what the rest of you all are doing. Digging holes." Pendanski scanned his notepad, "Her name is Charlene-"

"Charlie," Pendanski was surprised at this interruption. He paused for a brief second.

"Wha-"

"I said, my name is Charlie. Never, I repeat _never _call me Charlene!" She glared at Pendanski. He was so taken aback by the look of pure hatred in her eyes, he almost ran out of the tent. She turned and looked at the guys.

"So," she smiled sweetly, "which cot is mine?"


	2. Chapter 2

Chap

Chap. 2

Diggin' Holes

"So Charlie, what you in for?" asked X-ray. Charlie stirred her fork in the discolored slop the kind folk at Camp Green Lake like to call food.

"A shit load. Pick one," she started counting on her fingers, "Grave robbin', larceny, broke into a few houses and office buildings too. Basically, I'm just a master pickpocket. That's what they pinned me with at least. I was liftin' a wallet of some pretty-boy 'entrepreneur' right as a cop car pulled up. I bailed, and they caught me about five blocks down the street. Then they figured it was me doin' all that other crap. But I would have gotten away if that damn lady with her dog hadn't shown up. I tripped over the dog, and nearly got run over by a friggin' moped!" She raised her elbows up to show the guys the scars from where she had fallen.

"Dang girl!" exclaimed Magnet. The rest of them began to laugh.

"Well, since you didn't dig today, how 'bout givin' up your bread to someone who did?" X-ray reached across the table. Charlie plunged her fork into the table, right between X-ray's fingers. The table got quiet.

"Look 'X-ray', I'm no chump, so don't mess with me. Murder ain't on my rap sheet yet, let's keep it that way, ok?" she pulled her fork out of the table and started to eat again. Zigzag chuckled nervously. The rest of D tent just stared at her in sheer amazement.

"Hey man, get up." The group shuffled out to the 'library' when the horn sounded the next morning. Most of the guys were yawning and rubbing their eyes. Not Charlie. She stood there, wide-awake as Mr. Sir handed her a shovel.

"Thank _you, _Mr. Sir," she said with a slight smile. She handed the shovel to Caveman, who was walking between her and Zero.

"Hold this for a sec hun," she said sweetly. He stuttered, trying to say something, anything to her as they walked. She put her hair up in a messy bun on top her head, and reclaimed her shovel from him. He was still mumbling incoherent nonsense as she sped up to walk with the others.

"Uh, um, uh . . . you're welcome?" he finally got out. He gave Zero a bewildered look. Zero countered with a very annoyed expression, and walked on. "What?"

The water truck was seen a mile away coming from the camp. The gigantic dust cloud trailing behind it was a large indicator. Mr. Sir pulled up next the gathering teenagers. Charlie hopped out of her hole and got in line for water behind Zero. She came up to Mr. Sir and handed him her canteen with a pleasant, yet poisonous smile.

"Get any blisters yet girly? Don't worry, they won't ruin those _soft _hands of yours. It'll turn to callous soon enough."

"Blisters? Why Mr. Sir, I don't bleed." She took her refilled canteen and waved a hand around for all to see.

"It's the grave robbin'. She's gotta dig up the bodies herself." Zigzag whispered to Squid. Charlie strolled by him and they swiftly exchanged glances. Zig giggled to himself and started to dig again.

Zero climbed out of his hole and hacked the last bit of saliva he had into it. Charlie gave him a funny look.

"Y'all spit in yer holes when you're done?" Caveman nodded to her. "Well," she said measuring her hole, "why not?" She got out of her hole and spat into it. The rest of the guys stared at her.

"Hey, hey how she do dat man?" asked Magnet.

"Grave robbin'," replied Charlie with a small smile. She winked at Zigzag. "Hey Zero! Dude! Wait up!" The rest of D tent looked at each other, completely amazed. They all wondered what this girl had in store for each of them.


	3. Chapter 3

Chap Chap. 3

Nicknames

"Hey Zero. That ain't you're real name, is it? I mean, no one's _name_ is Zero. And Pendanski's an asshole for calling you that." Charlie cocked her head slightly to get a better look at him from her pillow. She and Zero had gone back to the tent. The 'rec.-room' was a major danger zone.

Zero glanced sideways at her from his cot. Then averted his eyes back to the ceiling. Charlie raised an eyebrow.

"Alright, you don't gotta tell me. Just tryin' to make a friend. Well," she paused, "since you won't tell me your real name, and I'm not gonna call you Zero, I guess that I'll call ya No-name." She chuckled to herself and stood. "I'm gonna go check if the guys are done yet. See ya, on the other side." She chuckled again, and bent down to kiss him on the cheek. Her lips touching his skin felt like a butterfly had alighted. His eyes popped open and his face was set ablaze in red. Charlie stood upright and strode out of the tent in her bad-ass walk, only to find more mischief to cause.

The rec.-room was in its normal chaos. Boys were shouting, breaking things, and each other. The guys from D tent were scattered about the room, just doing whatever. Charlie stepped in and did a quick scan of the room. Her eyes lit up when she saw the guys. She started to make her way across the room to them.

A couple of boys were whispering to each other as Charlie strode by them. One of them got pushed out towards her. The others started egging him on while he smirked and licked his lips. He crept up silently behind Charlie. Then she felt it. A hand was in a place that no hand should ever go. Unless of course, she said it could be there.

Charlie turned to the ingrate, all the fires of Hell burning in her charcoal black eyes. She grabbed him by the collar, winded him with a swift hit to the gut, then with both hands took hold of his collar, and kicked his feet out from under him. He hit the floor with a sickening thud, and would have gone flying hadn't she been holding on so tight. She then proceeded to squat on top of his chest and let one hand free of his collar to blacken his left eye.

As she raised her fist for a whole onslaught of punches, the boys of D tent appeared and tried to pull her off the half-blind idiot. It took close to four of them, including Armpit, to finally get her off of him. They got her up, but she struggled as much as she could. It didn't do her any good since Zigzag had locked his arms around her midsection, pinning her arms to her sides. She would have started to kick, but she didn't want to hurt Zigzag. The poor fool looked up at her in complete and udder horror as his buddies tried to get him off the floor.

Charlie glared evilly at him. "Bitch, you touch me again, and I'll chop yer balls off and serve them up to ya as next Tuesday's mystery meat!"

"Yo Pick! Girl, chill out. We can't hand ourselves over to the Warden like this. And you," X-ray looked down at the guy (he was still half on the floor), "don't be messin' with our girl Pick, or you'll have all of D tent on yer ass!" The guys from D tent all took a step forward and folded their arms. They're a menacing group, at least, that's how they seemed to the poor guy still on the floor. The moron and his friends ran from the rec.-room, tripping over each other's feet.

Zigzag released his iron hold on her. She was still breathing pretty heavily.

"Girl, you are one Bad-Ass!"

"Heh heh, ya think?"

"Yeah. But if another dude gets, the _urge, _he'll have to get through us first. Am I right boys?" X-ray said scanning the guys for support.

"Yeah!" they all yelled in unison. Charlie's face lit up. She finally made some friends.

"Aw, thanks guys. Y'all are so cool!" Zigzag draped an arm over her shoulder and smiled widely. She smiled back, then a quizzical look washed over her face. "Hey wait, what did y'all just call me?"


	4. Chapter 4

Chap Chap. 4 Tease

"Everybody out! Water truck's coming." The gang of D tent scrambled out of their holes to receive Pendanski and the water truck. Charlie, or Pick (short for pickpocket), had been moved up the line in front of Caveman.

Caveman automatically averted his eyes to the ground when Pick stepped in front of him. He almost didn't notice that Pendanski was holding his hand out for his canteen.

"Stanley. Stanley? STANLEY!" Caveman snapped back to attention.

"Uh, yeah?"

"You want water or not?"

"Yeah! Yeah, of course I want water." He handed his canteen to Pendanski. Zero gave him a concerned look. Caveman shrugged and went back to his hole. Zero shook his head as Pendanski took his canteen.

"D tent! Shower time! Let's go!" screamed Mr. Sir. The boys of D tent came running out of the tent whooping and yelling, very happy to get under the cold water. Pick followed them to the showers in a more leisurely walk. The guys hesitantly stood underneath the icy blast, watching Pick to see what she'd do.

She looked both ways, checking to see who was watching her. Not one pair of eyes could be pealed away from her. With a never fading grin she began to unzip the orange jumpsuit. Few gasped at this. Some of these boys haven't seen a teenage girl in months at a time. Slowly she shrugged off the jumpsuit, revealing a black bikini underneath. Many of the boys started whooping and whistling at her. Her smile widening, she stepped under the showerhead, and inserted her tokens. The cold water came gushing down over her. She ran her hands over her arms and legs, getting used to the cold. Tilting her head back, she let the water run down her body, her slightly toned muscles glistening from the wet. Her long raven black hair shimmered with an underwater effect. Every single boy stayed absolutely silent, just watching her.

Finally the water stopped. She grabbed a towel and started to dry herself off. Many of the boys moaned, some yelled for more, others even offered her their tokens. She simply smiled, and walked back to the tent, toweling her hair.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Chap. 5

Why does it always have to be snakes?

"Why the hell are we diggin' these friggin' holes anyway? Stupid Warden thinks she can fool me with that 'it builds character' crap," Pick grumbled shoveling dirt out of her hole. The guys simply snigger.

"Exactly that girl. Building character." Smiled X-ray. Pick humphed to herself and mumbled more nonsense about being in the hot sun. Zigzag jumped out of his hole.

"Hey Armpit, where's an empty lot, I gotta piss like a race horse." Armpit beaconed to his left and Zig took off running. Zero and Pick finished their holes and spat into them. Zero started back for the tent, glancing over his shoulder to see if Pick was following.

"Dude I'll be right behind you! Gotta pee." She said waving a hand at him to go ahead. She jogged to some near by holes and jumped into one. She unzipped the jumpsuit and was about to pull it down when she heard a rattling sound behind her. Slowly and deliberately she turned to see whose home she had intruded upon. Much to her dismay, it was a rattlesnake. She full out screamed and was clawing at the rim of the hole to get out. The snake's tail was waving back and forth, it reared its head up, about to strike. Pick screamed again, and right as the snake lunged forward, two strong hands grabbed her out stretched ones and pulled her out of the hole. The snake merely bashed its head into the wall of the hole.

The hands pulled her up into a strong embrace. Pick's body shook so violently that her rescuer could barely keep hold of her. Tears streamed down her cheeks, soaking the front of her rescuer's jumpsuit. She looked up into the eyes of her savior, not really knowing whom to expect. Zigzag smiled his crazy smile down at her.

"Well, well. Didn't think that the fearless Pick was scared of a little rattlesnake." She stared at him blankly for a brief second, then she threw her arms around his neck.

"Oh Zig! Zig, I was so scared!" she stopped shaking, but the tears wouldn't stop. Zigzag, surprised at this reaction from her, just held her closely, petting her hair and telling her that everything would be all right. She finally stopped crying and looked up into his eyes. He smiled at her, wiping away the tears with his thumb.

"See, you're fine." She smiled back at him. The smiles faded, a hazy expression took hold of both their faces. Zigzag rested a hand on the side of Pick's face and pulled her into a passionate kiss. They held the kiss for as long as they could, then, mostly from lack of oxygen, they pulled apart. Pick looked down at her boots, her face a light pink. Zigzag was looking strait ahead, a silly half grin slapped across his face. She looked up at him; he glanced down at her. She slowly let go of him and took a step back.

"So, what now?" Zig's face relaxed into a softer smile.

"Well, I did save your life. So that means you owe me, big time at that." She looked him right in the face, a scowl forming, and zipped up her jumpsuit.

"And what do you propose as blackmail?" Zigzag sniggered.

"There are a few things on my list—"

"There's a list!"

"Yeah, a list. Starting with, what with the fear of snakes? You seem like the kinda chick to own one! Why so scared?" he gave her a skeptical look. Pick drew back for a second. This was private info. He really had no right to even ask. She ran her fingers through her hair.

"Swear you won't tell!" he nodded, "No! Seriously, swear to me that you won't tell a soul!"

"Fine, I swear."

"Ok, here it is. When I was six, I was out playing in the woods behind one of the homeless shelters I was at. I saw a stick lying on the ground, so I picked it up. Turns out, it was a snake, and it bit me, right on the neck." She yanked her collar down to show him the scars from the bite. "Bitch nearly killed my ass. Ever since then, I have been scared to death of snakes. Anything else?" Zigzag shook his head and smiled.

"Yeah, you be my girl." Pick just stared at him.

"Ahha, no! I'm nobody's 'girl', so you can just kiss that little wet dream good-bye." She turned to head back to the tent and Zig grabbed her arm. His grave expression made her stop for a second, but she didn't feel sure about anything yet.

"Hey! Let go man!" she twisted around trying to get him off. His grip was iron.

"You owe me. And you know what," he pulled her in so close that their faces were almost touching, "I actually like you. And I think you like me too." She tried to struggle free, "So do us both a favor," he took her arms in both hands to hold her still, "and kiss me." She looked up into his eyes, sighed, and leaned in. He brought his face down and they kissed again. It was soft, not like some of the other guys that forced themselves on her before. He looked down into her eyes.

"See, that wasn't so bad, was it?"

"Nah."

"Good," suddenly the rest of D-tent was around them. They saw the kiss and threw a million questions at them a once. Many of them were just staring at the two in shock. Magnet was the loudest of the lot, so he asked for the basics.

"Ok, wait! What the hell was that?!" Pick rolled her eyes.

"What did it look like? We kissed, got a problem with it?" She put on one of her patented death glares and the guys went silent.

"Uh no, no. We don't have a problem. No." they all babbled and shook their heads. Pick and Zigzag smiled.

"Good, now go build some character!"


	6. Chapter 6

Chap. 6

The Cold Floor

"Alright! Lights out everybody!" The boys of D tent all got into their cots and settled down for the few hours of sleep granted them. Pick unrolled her sleeping bag and started to make herself comfortable in the middle of the floor. She propped herself up against the support beam and tried to drift off. The rest of the guys had fallen asleep, but Pick couldn't give herself over to the dark. Someone must have heard her sigh, she didn't seem to be the only one unable to sleep. She could barely make out the silhouette of Zigzag lift himself up into a sitting position. She could tell he was watching her. She could feel his eyes probing, searching for her outline on the pitch-black floor. She sighed again. Suddenly he was right next to her.

"Come on," he breathed into her ear, "no girl of mine sleeps on the floor." Pick couldn't help but smile at that. Zigzag lifted her up and put her on his cot, then got in with her. They both got as comfortable as possible, those cots are built for one, and Zigzag put his arms around her. She rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes.

"Hey Zig?" he grunted in response. "Thanks." She smiled and nestled closer to him. His eyes shot open and he looked down at her in amazement. He too smiled and fell asleep.

The sound of the bugle lashed out through the camp. There was a communal groan from all the tents as the campers made ready for the day's work. Pick opened one eye and Zigzag was still laying there looking at her.

"Damn you're hot." He smiled.

"Psh, shut up man." She rolled out of the cot. "Ow." She hit the ground. Zigzag full out laughed. She got up and started to get ready to face the dirt.


	7. Chapter 7

Chap

Chap. 7

Movin' on Up

"Three weeks. Three freakin' weeks I've been diggin' these stupid holes." Pick grumbled to her shovel full of dirt. Zigzag smiles from the next hole over. Caveman glanced up at the sky, wiping the sweat from his face.

"Don't worry girl. Remember, it builds character. And we _all_ need some major character." Said X-ray. The guys all laughed. Pick chuckled as well. She enjoyed being with the boys. They were the closest thing to a family she's ever had. But being in the hot sun was something she could do without.

"Man, it's freakin' hot out here." She dropped her shovel and unzipped her jumpsuit. Zigzag stopped digging to watch her. Pulling her arms out of the suit, she reveals a wife beater over a black bikini. She tied the sleeves around her waist, put on a pair of workers gloves, and resumed digging. Zigzag couldn't help but smile. He knew he had it good.

"Yo! Water truck!" Everyone looked up from their holes to watch as the dust cloud approach them. Pendanski pulled the truck up and D tent lined up to receive their salvation. Pick got into her place in line in front of Caveman.

"Hey Pick!" Pick tilted her head to look up the line at X-ray, who was getting his water from Pendanski.

"What!" she yelled back.

"Get in line with your man. Don't leave him alone for a minute." Pick and Zigzag smiled. She stepped forward and got in front of Zig. He put his arms around her middle, pulling her back against him. Her smile got bigger and she put a hand on the side of Zigzag's face. X-ray strolled by them.

"Not for a minute."

"Got it X."

The rest of the group got their water and went back to their holes. Pick stood over her hole with her water canteen open. She took off her cap, poured some of her precious water into it, and slapped it back on her head. "Ah," she sighed, "That feels so good!" The water dripped down off her hair, down her neck, seeping through her shirt. Zigzag put a hand on her arm and turned her around to face him. Their eyes locked as he leaned down and kissed her. The rest of the guys start whooping and whistling. The couple just deepened the kiss. Pendanski yelled at them to get back to digging. Pick raised one hand up in a rude gesture at Pendanski and prolonged the kiss.

End


End file.
